I’d recently received a couple of copies of a publication called Corporal Contacts to write about in Forum magazine. They’re put together by Rupert Pendragon, who I’d interviewed for the mag several years earlier. He specialises in offering old-fashioned discipline to men, particularly those who have a fantasy about being chastised by a strict schoolmaster or head prefect (yes, it’s a very English thing…), and Corporal Contacts is full of stories and contact ads on that topic, as well as army discipline and similar scenarios which involve young men with pert bottoms being spanked/caned/slippered by older men. It’s a real old-school (no pun intended) type of publication, photocopied, stapled and full of fuzzy photos of cute, semi-naked young men being punished. Though I’m not in the target readership, you can see why I might enjoy leafing through it! Corporal Contacts inspired me to write a male/male spanking story, but I wanted to write it from the point of view of a woman who’s watching the action, because most spanking stories are either about the person giving the spanking or the one receiving it, and it’s nice to add a bit of voyeurism to the mix once in a while.

How long did it take you to write it?

Once I had the idea, it all came together quite quickly – it was probably finished in two or three sessions of writing over the course of a weekend.

What is your favorite paragraph in your story?

For a moment, Sergeant Sterne placed the plimsoll on his desk, deliberately in Stephen’s eyeline, as though to remind him of what was to come. He reached for the waistband of the shorts, unfastening them briskly and yanking them down. Stephen had been instructed to wear nothing beneath them, and as his buttocks were revealed I could clearly see the vivid, rosy imprints of the plimsoll’s sole on his pale flesh.

How is this story different from/similar to your other work?

I haven’t really done much male/male CP before now, though I certainly will again in the future. It’s similar to my other work in that I like to explore the relationship the characters have and if and how it changes during the course of the spanking or other sexual encounter. One of the points I wanted to make in “A Firm Understanding” is that men often feel they have to be strong and macho in front of a woman, but that they can actually become stronger when they can admit to be being vulnerable, as when they’re receiving a spanking.

What’s your favorite spanking erotica you’ve ever read?

Ooh, the amount of good spanking erotica available is increasing all the time. If you want a taster of the depth and variety of current spanking fiction, I don’t think you can go wrong with your previous Cleis anthology, Spanked. You’re bound to find a story in there you like.

What are you working on next?

I’m in the middle of a story about a woman who gets into a relationship with a man who’s obsessed with stockings. It doesn’t have a home as yet, but I’d like to think someone will pick it up…

"These tales are not for the faint of heart, and they may likely make you long for the barest of bottoms." Foxnews.com

As sweet as it is kinky, "Bottoms Up" will propel you to pick up a paddle and share in both pleasure and pain, or perhaps simply turn the other cheek...For those who have an endless capacity to bare their ass in preparation for a sound smacking ~ or deliver the deliciously ecstatic pain to a lover ~ this torrid tour de force is essential reading.
Review at Rainbow Reviews

"Cupcake maven Rachel Kramer Bussel has assembled an impressive array of erotic tales in Bottoms Up. While spanking enthusiasts will surely find a wealth of material here to stay inspired, we think just about anyone will get a kick out of this collection of smartly written tales that barely leave a mark—other than a smile of contentment...Point your horny bookworms toward this one." -- AVN

"...the stories here are a wonderfully diverse mix tackling spanking from a myriad different approaches.
For any fan of cheekily chastised cheeks, Bottoms Up is a collection that can’t fail to deliver."
-- Review at Erotica Readers & Writers Association